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Note: All travel is subject to frequently changing governmental restrictions—please check federal, state and local advisories before scheduling trips.

Now that we’ve put a decidedly difficult year behind us, it’s only natural to look forward to better times. And LGBTQIA travelers will find lots to love in 2021, as a variety of new hotels, bars and experiences deliver exactly the fresh vacation inspiration that we all need right now. From around the country and abroad, here are a few ideas to fuel your travel wish list in 2021.

RELATED: Visit our LGBTQIA travel hub for welcoming hotels, the ultimate queer events calendar, inspiration, and more!

Accommodations

A number of noteworthy new hotels are gearing up to welcome LGBTQIA travelers. In Las Vegas, the Bent Inn opens in late 2021 in the Fremont District, part of the increasingly trend-setting downtown area. The 31-room boutique hotel—conceived by the former owners of Desert Paradise Resort, a popular gay men’s resorts in Palm Springs—will offer a coffee house and bar.

Since most travelers were grounded for much of 2020, several hotels that opened in 2020 are still in the news. In Desert Hot Springs, California (near Palm Springs), LGBTQIA folks looking for an adults-only, outdoorsy getaway can check into Mi Kasa Hot Springs Resort, a clothing-optional, cannabis-friendly property that opened in October 2020. The 10-room hotel has an outdoor hot springs pool and indoor hot springs Jacuzzi and offers $30 day passes.

On the East Coast, new options include The Roxbury at Stratton Falls, an LGBTQIA-owned boutique hotel nestled in New York State’s Catskill Mountains. Owned by New York City theater design gurus Greg Henderson and Joseph Massa, the new property complements the existing Roxbury Motel, with a spa, indoor swimming pool and packages that include LGBTQIA destination wedding ceremonies.

Attractions and experiences

LGBTQIA travelers will find plenty of new reasons to get onboard with travel again in 2021. Atlantis Events, for example, is launching its first-ever cruise aboard a Virgin Voyages ship. The 2,770-passenger Scarlet Lady will provide the setting for a five-night itinerary that departs Miami in June, with stops at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and the Bimini Beach Club in the Bahamas. Everything from drag queen hosts to fitness classes and live music performances are all part of the itinerary.

Fort Lauderdale | Photo courtesy of Greater Fort Lauderdale

In Florida, two important attractions on the LGBTQIA travel map have found new homes. The Stonewall National Museum and Archives, which oversees one of the nation’s biggest collections of LGBTQIA historical documents, has moved its exhibit space from Wilton Manors to a larger headquarters on Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Its rotating exhibits highlight various aspects of LGBTQ history. Next door, the World AIDS Museum has also opened in a new space, with more room for exhibits than in its previous Wilton Manors location.

An entirely new LGBTQIA neighborhood awaits in downtown San Jose, California, where the Qmunity District is the new name for a vibrantly refreshed area of Post Street. Rainbow flags and LGBTQIA street art grace this recently redubbed area, which is the result of an initiative by the Project MORE Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports the local LGBTQIA community, and several other groups. The District officially launched in Summer 2020 with support from the City of San José and city councilmember Raul Peralez, and the new year will bring even more excitement, including pop-up shops, art exhibits and special events, as well as the continuation of an outdoor dining program.

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LGBTQ events and festivities

Copenhagen Pride | Photo courtesy of Tobias Jørgensen

After a year in which nearly every major event was cancelled or postponed, 2021 promises to make up for lost time. Two major happenings—WorldPride and EuroGames—will take place simultaneously next year, under the moniker Copenhagen 2021. Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess Mary of Denmark serves as a patron of the double event, which takes place August 12-22. WorldPride festivities will center around City Hall Square, with a super-sized World Pride Parade taking place in both Copenhagen and Malmö, located across the Öresund Bridge in Sweden. The LGBTQ-inclusive sporting event EuroGames expects to welcome more than 5,000 athletes for competitions in 29 different sports.

In the United States, details have yet to be finalized for Pride celebrations in most major destinations, including New York City, Chicago and San Francisco. The same goes for Fort Lauderdale, which postponed its plans last year to host the first-ever Pride of the Americas, an international celebration that aims to attract participants from around the western hemisphere. LA Pride, however, has already finalized its plans for 2021, with dates set in Los Angeles for June 11-13. New Orleans, meanwhile, will host its annual Southern Decadence event on September 2-6, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, will roll out the rainbow carpet for Vallarta Pride on May 24-31.

LGBTQIA nightlife

A variety of new watering holes now dot the queer landscape, inviting travelers to refuel as they rekindle their wanderlust. In California’s Orange County, a self-described “queer dive bar” named Donkey D’s recently opened in Costa Mesa, with drag bingo and other game nights among its regular offerings.

In Colorado Springs, travelers can sip creatively named cocktails like the Dolly Patron, Berry Manilow and Ricky Martini at Icons, the city’s newest LGBTQIA piano bar, which is billed as downtown’s only food and drink establishment devoted to the queer community.

New York City’s ever-popular Hell’s Kitchen may have lost a couple longstanding bars during the pandemic, but it also gained at least one new venue: XOXO, which serves up liquid refreshments and light snacks. A quick ride on the subway will take you to another noteworthy nightspot: Lambda Lounge, which opened in 2020 as Harlem’s only African-American owned LGBTQIA bar. The owners, Charles Hughes and Richard Solomon, also happen to be the founders of Lambda Vodka, which is one of the featured spirits at the lounge. Even the New York City suburbs have an attractive new option for dining and drinking: BTW, a new bar and grill in Oceanside, Long Island, tempts LGBTQIA locals and visitors alike with its extensive brunch and dinner menus. With so many travelers eager to restart their vacation planning in 2021, these venues will surely find new fans in the year ahead.

 

Tagged: California, Colorado, Cruise, Europe, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, LGBTQIA, Los Angeles, Mexico, New Orleans, New York, Palm Springs

Note: Orbitz compensates authors for their writings appearing on this site.

Mark Chesnut
Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and photographer. He's written for Fodor's, the Huffington Post, the Miami Herald, Travel Weekly, various inflight magazines and the New York Times best-seller "1,000 Places To See Before You Die." He also operates a travel blog, LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on travel to Latin America. Find more from Mark on Twitter @munderamedia and Instagram @mundera

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